1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general to accumulators which are employed with a compressor in a refrigerating circuit for separating a liquid element from a refrigerant fed to the compressor. In particular, the invention relates to an accumulator laterally arranged close to a lateral type compressor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, a refrigerant circulating through a refrigerating circuit includes a gas element and a liquid element. The gas element is periodically compressed to a prescribed pressure by a compressor, and is discharged to the refrigerating circuit. If the liquid element of the refrigerant is taken into the compressor together with the gas element, liquid compression occurs in the compressor during the compressing operation. The liquid compression causes the compressor to be dameged. This is because the liquid element of the refrigerant in the compressor cannot be compressed, and therefore, a large repulsion force occurs in the compressor during the operation.
To prevent the above-described liquid compression, an accumulator is connected to the intake side of the compressor for separating the liquid element from the refrigerant. One example of a conventional accumulator is shown in FIG. 1. A hermetic container 11 includes a pair of receptacles 13a and 13b hermetically connected to one another. An intake pipe 15 is provided on the bottom of upper receptacle 13a, and projects into the interior of tcontainer 11. An output pipe 17 is provided on the bottom of lower receptacle 13b, and projects into the interior of container 11 a prescribed length, as shown in FIG. 1. An oil return hole 18 is provided to the projected portion of pipe 17 close to tbe bottom of lower receptaole 13b. A screen 19 is provided between intake pipe 15 and output pipe 17 for filtering foreign substances contained in the refrigerant. Therefore, screen 19 partitions container 11 into an upper chamber 21a and a lower chamber 21b.
With the construction described above, when the mixture of a lubricating oil and refrigerant including a gas element and a liquid element flows into container 11 through intake pipe 15, the gas element of the refrigerant is separated from the mixture in container 11. The gas element of the refrigerant is discharged through output pipe 17, and the lubricating oil and the liquid element of the refrigerant are accumulated in the lower chamber 21b of container 11. Furthermore, the accumulated lubricating oil also is discharged through oil return hole 18 of output pipe 17 together with the accumulated liquid element of the refrigerant. Therefore, the gas element of refrigerant, the lubricating oil and the liquid element of refrigerant flow toward the compressor. At this time, the liquid element of the refrigerant fed from output pipe 17 vaporizes during the flow to the compressor.
However, since the above-described accumulator is originally manufactured for a vertical type compressor, it may not be adapted readly to a lareral type compressor. The lateral type compressor is used for reduce the installation height of the compressor. However, as shown in FIG. 2, since the accumulator is vertically attached close to the lateral type compressor 23, the upper portion of the accumulator projects upward from oompressor 23. Therefore, the height of the overall assembly of the compressor and the accumulator oannot be reduced, in spite of the use of the lateral type compressor. Furthermore, since container 11 includes substantially one common chamber, pressure fluctuation may occurs in container 11 in response to the compressing and releasing operation of the compressor. As shown in FIG. 1, since the mixture of lubricating oil and refrigerant showers on the lubricating oil and the refregerant stored in container 11, a stable liquid separation cannot be carried out.